Beech In Australia
by Kate Stevens
Summary: The Trouble With Beech Saga Part 2 - Beech escapes to Australia to live a new life unaware he's been followed by John, Claire, Stephen and Marion. The chase continues.
1. The Plan

**Authors Notes: **This is the sequel to Corruption so please read that first, otherwise you may not be able to understand this.  It starts off exactly at the end of Corruption.  It may be a bit slow at first and the chapters are very short, but please read & review.

"abc" means speech.

_abc_ means thoughts.

I think that is everything so on with the story.

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**The Bill: Beech in ****Australia******

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**Chapter 1: The Plan.**

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      At CIB headquarters, the officers were complaining about there failure at catching Beech.

      "Ok everybody quiet," shouted Stephen as he entered the room.  Everybody stopped what they were doing to listen to what he had to say.

      "We have not caught Beech today but we are not giving up.  We are not giving up until he is safely locked up in jail.  So ... to start with, I am going to re-interview Sun Hill CID.  Claire can you check the details of the flight Beech took to get to Australia and see if you can book the next flight over there.  The rest of you gather up every bit of info we have, lean on snouts, we need as much info as possible to catch him.  Also Jed, can you and Chris check the security on this place.  If Beech escaped, there are only two possible explanations why.  1) Being there is a traitor in this building, and the other being the security system is weak in which case we need to fix it.  Understand?"  Stephen finished turning towards the whiteboard behind him and writing something on it.

      He turned back around and saw that no one had moved.  "Well, why are you still here?" he yelled at them.

      Everyone quickly disappeared to complete his or her tasks.

      Stephen and Marion made their way to Sun Hill to re-interview the CID officers.  After five hours of interviews, they found nothing of any use to the investigation and so decided to re-instate them.  They then headed back to headquarters hoping the others had had better look than they had.

      As soon as they entered the main building, Claire walked up to them with a piece of paper in her hand.

      "Please tell me this is good news Claire, I've had more than enough bad news these past few days," said Stephen.

      "Gov, we've managed to track the destination of Beech's flight, and the next one takes off at 9:30am tomorrow morning.  Also, Jed found out how he got out of the cell.  Someone had stuffed some paper or something into the keyhole so even though it seemed locked it wasn't locked at all."

      "And nobody bothered to check?"

      "No Gov."

      "Arrgg, ok, has it all been cleaned out now and all the other cells checked?"

      "Yes sir."

"Right, I'm going to see if I can book some seats on the flight to Australia tomorrow.  Do you and John want to come too?"

"Yes sir.  I already booked some seats; you just need to call to confirm it."

"Ok I'll do that now, and you lot finish off what your doing then get home and get packed, we've got a plane to catch in the morning so I'll meet you at the airport."

"Yes sir," Claire said before scurrying off to find John.

She found him discussing something with Chris in the main office.

"John," she calls to him, "Hodges wants us to go to Australia with him tomorrow so he said to go home and get packed now; are you coming?"

"Yeah, see ya," said John before following Claire out the building to go home.

By the time, they got home and got, everything packed it was 10pm.  They finished tidying up the mess they had made, and then settled down into bed for some well-deserved rest.


	2. Beech's New Life

**Authors Notes: **I finally got round to writing chapter 2.  I might be able to get chapter 3 up by the end of the weekend with any luck, but this is gonna be a lot slower than corruption cause I only had to type that up.  This time I'm posting the chapter almost as soon as I've wrote them. It may be a bit slow at first and the chapters are very short, but please read & review.

Also I would like to thank Gem6 and Ellie-R for their reviews, you guys are the best, I don't know how I'd do this without you.  Anyway the reason I got chapter 1 of this story p so fast was I'd already drafted the first chapter before I finished posting Corruption, I also had a lot of time on my hands that week.

"abc" means speech.

_abc_ means thoughts.

I think that is everything so on with the story.

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**Beech in ****Australia****: Beech's New Life**

Qantas airlines flight 119 landed at Banzai airport at 17:30 local time, off the plane stepped Beech.  He set out to explore the area and he ran into some local cops.  He asked them if they could give him a tour of the city and said that his name was Inspector Andrew Munroe, from Sun Hill police station and that he's on holiday with his wife.

            The Australian officers weren't doing much so they agreed to give him a tour.

"Where is your wife now?" asked one of the officers.

            "She's in the hotel sleeping.  Jet lag, I didn't want to disturb her so I came to look round the town."

            After a couple of hours driving around the town the officers pointing out the local hotspots and criminal hangouts they drop beech off outside of an impressive looking hotel.

            He books himself a room then gets rid of the disguise and has a shower before making his way to the local pub to meet some new friends.  In the pub a young Chinese looking woman (ABOUT 25 YEARS OLD) approached him.  

"Hi I'm Yin," she introduces herself.

The two got in a long conversation and Yin introduced him to some of her friends.  One of them mentioned something about planning to highjack a lorry that's suppose to be carrying a lot of drugs amongst the cargo and Beech asked if he could join in, using the excuse he needed a quick way to get some money and that he could help them avoid getting caught by the police.

            At 3am local time Beech finally went back to his hotel room, before getting changed and jumping into bed.  He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	3. Airplanes and Travel Sickness

**Authors Notes: **same as chapter 2 I think.  Except I know knotting about Australia and not much about travelling on an airplane either so please excuse any mistakes.

"abc" means speech.

_abc_ means thoughts.

I think that is everything so on with the story.

**************************************************************************************************

**Beech in ****Australia****: Airplanes and Travel Sickness.**

In Sun Hill the time is 9am **(GMT).**  Claire, John, Stephen and Marion were at Heathrow Airport where they had agreed to meet the day before.  They were waiting for their flight so that they could get Beech.  In the waiting area they discussed what they were going to do when they got there.

"I think it would be best to book into a hotel first," said Stephen, "At least then we've got somewhere to leave our suitcases and we don't have to worry about finding one later.  Then I suggest we go talk to the local police.  Maybe they have seen him around town or something, if not we should at least be able to get them to give us a tour of the local criminal hotspots.  With any look someone might have seen him, but lets not get our hopes up."

Suddenly the antenna came to life, "Flight 396 to Sydney airport is now boarding, flight 396 to Sydney."

The four made their way to the boarding gate and onto the plane.  Once settled into their seats they watched the other passenger's board and waited for takeoff.

"I hate flying," mentioned Marion, "I always get airsick."

"You better not puke on me," stated Stephen, who was sitting next to her.

"I won't," she replied.

"I've never really been on a plane before, unless you count when I went on holiday to Spain when I was 3, but that was ages ago," said Claire.

 "Really?" asks John, "My parents live in Spain, they moved there when they retired shortly after I joined Sun Hill, so I've been on a plane lots of times."

"I've only been on a plane a few times," said Stephen, "but I always fall asleep.  Planes just make me sleepy."

"I agree," said John, "they make me sleepy too."

They didn't notice till then that the plane was now in the air.  The announcement came over the antenna that it is now safe to move around the plane.

"I don't feel so good," moaned Marion, undoing her seatbelt and making her way to the toilet.

"Is she gonna be ok?" asked John.

"Yeah, I think so," said Stephen, "just airsickness."

"Speaking of airsickness," said Claire, getting up and heading towards the bathroom, "I'll be back in a bit."

"You don't think airsickness is catching do you?" asked Stephen.

"Don't think so," replied John.

"I'm going to sleep, wake me up when we get there."

"Ok."

The girls returned shortly after the boys had fallen asleep.  21 hours and several trips to the bathroom later, there plane touched down in Sydney, Australia.


	4. Welcome To Australia

**Authors Notes: **ok I know I promised i'd get this up last weekend but i had computer troubles and I didn't have time during the week but here it is now so read and review. Also don't forget to check out my webpage (address in bio). Chapter 5 will be up as soon as i get chance to type it up.

**Chapter 4: Welcome To Australia.**

One hour after the plane had landed, Stephen, Marion, John and Claire booking into a hotel. They then made their way to the local police station. Stephen introduced them all to one of the senior officers and explained their mission. He showed the officers a photo of Beech and said that he's very dangerous and if anyone spots him to report the location to them immediately. He left the Australian police a copy of the photograph and a contact number before he and the others, along with one of the Australian officers for a tour guide, set out to explore the city and to find Beech.

They walked around the city, asking questions to shop and bar staff and anyone else who might have seen him. They spoke to lots of people but no one recognised the photo. A few people said they had seen a newcomer to the area, but said he didn't match the picture because he had a beard and longer hair in a pony tail.

"It could be a disguise," suggests Claire.

"Maybe" said Stephen, "He was wearing a disguise when we lost him at the airport, maybe he's still wearing it."

"So now what?" asks John.

"There's not a lot we can do till we can get a location for Beech or at least some kind of trail," explains Stephen.

"It's getting kind of late," noticed Marion, "why don't we all head back to the hotel and get something to eat, we're more likely to find him if we're not hungry and tired."

"Good idea," agreed Stephen, "we'll drop in the supermarket over there to get some food, then head back to the hotel to get some rest, we'll start searching again tomorrow."

With that said they went to the supermarket and started to look around for some food. When they had got the basics like, milk, sugar, teabags, coffee, bread and butter and a few other odds and ends, they made their way to the checkouts to pay for the goods. They packed everything into bags and made their way back to the hotel.


	5. Nightfall Revelations

**Authors Notes:** I know I said I was gonna get this chap up ages ago but i've been busier than I thought. Anyway to make up for it this chapter is the longest yet and i've already got rough versions or the rest of this story so it's just a matter of typing them up and ironing out the creases. Enjoy the story and more authors notes at the bottom. Also spoilers this chaper are the episode Room Service.

**Beech In Australia**

**Chapter 5: Nightfall Revelations**

When they arrived, they put the food away in the cupboards and fridge before deciding what to do to relax for the evening. They decided on watching a movie so whilst Claire and Marion started cooking something to eat, John and Stephen checked the TV guide to find a good movie. There wasn't much on the TV so Stephen suggested they go rent one. They all agreed on an action movie, so John and Stephen went to get one, Marion unwilling to let the boys near the cooking incase they burn it. **(SEE CORRUPTION.)**

When the boys got back with the movie, dinner was done and so they all settled down to eat it.

"So what movie did you bring?" asks Marion, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Under Siege 2: Dark Territory," answers Stephen, "It's one of my favourites." **(1)**

"What's it about?" asks Claire.

"A terrorist hijacks a train, to control a satellite weapons system. Its good," explains Stephen.

After finishing eating and washing the dishes, they all settle down in front of the TV to watch the movie.

The movie finishes about 2 hours later. "Your right gov," says Claire, "that is a good movie; how'd you find it?"

"The lead actor is one of my favourites."

"Y'know Claire," comments John, "I've been wondering why do you keep calling Stephen, gov?"

"Erm … I guess I should of told you sooner. I … I'm CIB. I was sent to Sun Hill to trap Beech. That's why I had to be careful about what I said to everybody, and all that crap about visiting my mother; that was just a code; my mom died when I was seventeen years old," explained Claire.

"Oh, sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked."

All of a sudden Marion burst out giggling for no apparent reason.

"What's so funny?" asks Claire.

When she doesn't get a reply, Stephen says, "Don't know. Mar?"

"Sorry ….. Sorry …..," Marion says between fits of laughter, "I was just thinking of something from when I was younger."

"Oh do tell," says Stephen.

"A practical joke I played when I first joined the police," starts Marion, "this one guy was obsessed with this one case, so as revenge for getting me into trouble for something the week before, I gave one of his informants a fake tip off, making sure it couldn't be traced back to me. Well anyway he told the boss about the tip off and was allowed to set up an obbo, and obviously nothing happened. So when he figured out it was false info he was really pissed off and stomped back to the car not looking where he was going and he fell in this hole. Everyone was laughing too much to help him out so when he finally managed to clamber out he was even more pissed and went and fell back down the hole again. Obviously no one figured out I 'd set it up otherwise I'd have been in deep trouble." **(2)**

"That's hilarious,2 comment John and Claire.

"So as well as losing everything you're a prankster too hey Mar?" asks Stephen.

"Yep."

"What do you mean losing everything?" asks John.

"Don't tell me you haven't told them about the tumble dryer incident Mar?" **(3)**

"No I haven't actually Ste," she said to Stephen, then turning to the others she said, "I once left my mobile and keys in my coat pocket, and put it in the tumble dryer. I've got no idea why I forgot to take them out but when I came to find them later they couldn't be found. Imagine my surprise when I took my coat out of the tumble dryer the next day and found them still in the pocket."

They all burst into laughter at that. "Have any of you guys done anything incredibly silly like that?"

"Not really," said John, "although I did make a phone call in a funny voice the once."

"What do you mean?" asks Stephen.

"Well Don picked up this case from uniform about some assaults in the London Dock Hotel. He was going through the surveillance tapes and I was worried he might find me on one of them so to get him out of the way I called the main office from my mobile and when Duncan picked up the phone I pretended to be one of Don's informants. In a funny voice I said 'I'd like to speak Mr Beech please,' when I was told he wasn't available I went on to say 'who's this? Hey I wanna speak to the organ grinder not the monkey, now fetch me Mr Beech now and tell him its very important.' so Duncan went off to fetch Don and by then I'd cancelled the call. Correct me if I'm wrong Claire but while Don was yelling at Duncan you went and made the tape disappear so to speak." **(4)**

"Yeah," said Claire now laughing, "his face when he realised the tape had vanished was a classic."

"I later had a quiet chat with Duncan and told him to give Don a message that someone had come forward with information and would meet him in crystal palace park, the other side of the river. Anyway with Don safely out of the way I solved the case."

"I wondered how you managed to keep him out of the way," comments Claire.

"He had a meeting with a plastic dinosaur," laughed John.

"How did he manage to get you involved Claire?" asked Stephen.

"Erm … there was a strong chance I was on the tape as well."

"That sounds sort of familiar," comments Marion.

"What are you on about Mar?" asks Stephen

"Devon."

"What's all this about Devon," asks Claire, "did I miss the memo or something."

"There wasn't a memo," points out Stephen, "It's a good thing too, I could really do without getting into that sort of mess again."

Marion looks at Stephen silently asking permission to let the others in on the secret. "Remember what was said in Great Yarmouth when we played truth or dare?"

"Yeah," says Claire, "You said something about skiving off down there or something."

"Exactly, well the bit you wasn't told is … it was only the two of us that went."

"I still don't get it," said Claire.

Getting fed up Stephen butted in, "you know what you keep saying about you think we act like a couple or something?"

"Yeah?"

"Well it used to be true back then. Now do you get it?"

"Yeah, I think so, really?" answers Claire. Silence was her only answer.

"Well that explains a lot," comments John.

"Don't get any ideas," said Stephen, "it was a long time ago." _Not counting the other night, although I wish it were still true._ "Which reminds me, is it true that you two are together or am I seeing more than there actually is?"

John and Claire look at each other before answering together. "Yes," they mumble.

"What are we doing tomorrow," asks Marion, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had descended on the room after the admission.

"We'll go back to the police station, to see if they've got anymore information, then depending on whether we get anything useful or not we'll continue asking questions and make a plan of action," explained Stephen.

"Maybe we should all get some sleep then," suggests Marion.

They all agree and get up to go get ready for bed. "Can I have a quick word Claire," interrupts Stephen pulling her to one side.

"Gov!"

"About what we was all talking about earlier, I'll turn a blind eye if you keep it separate from work understand?"

"Yes gov," says Claire before making her way to bed. Within fifteen minutes they are all fast asleep.

Authors notes:

(1) this movie is a real movie. The main actor is (Steven Seagal) is one of my dad's favourites. He suggested I watch it so I did and now it's one of my favorite movies too.

(2) this is a really weird dream I had one night and thought it fit this story perfectly.

(3) the tumble dryer incident is mentioned in the prequel to this story. Stephen knows about it cause Marion told him about it. See Corruption chapter 17 for the details.

(4) a direct quote from the episode Room Service. This is one of my favorite eps and I couldn't stop laughing about this bit for weeks after I first watched that episode.


	6. The Next Morning

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Beech In Australia

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Chapter 6: Early Morning Discoveries

The next morning they all get up at 8am. "I don't feel so good," moaned Marion before racing off to the bathroom to regurgitate last nights meal.

"Join the club," comments Claire who is also looking a little green, "dinner last night must have disagreed with me."

"If you're not feeling too good, maybe you should stay here today."

"I don't know about you Claire but I'll be ok. It was probably just something I ate," said Marion returning from the bathroom.

"That's what I said," Claire added.

"Well if you're sure …" said Stephen turning around with two cups of coffee in his hands. He placed them on the table before adding, "do you want a cup?"

"I'll stick with orange juice thanks," says Marion.

"I think I will too," says Claire, "less likely to fetch it back."

"Suit yourselves."

They all settle down to breakfast before getting washed and dressed, ready to make their way back to the local police station. "Are you sure you want to come?" asks Stephen.

"We'll be fine gov, lets go," says Claire.

They all head to the police station where again they discuss what they know with the local officers. "Apparently there have been a few possible sightings of Beech," one of the officers reveals. He tells them exactly what he's seen and heard.

"There's also talk of him meeting somebody at Skippy's café at 12 noon, I don't know if that's any help to ya," **(1) **revealed another of the officers.

"It might be, thank you for all your help," says Stephen to the officers, then to John, Claire and Marion he says, "I think we best go find out what this meeting is about."

They all head to the café chatting on the way. "What if this meeting turns out to be fake?" asks John.

"We all fall down a hole," jokes Marion.

"Real funny Mar, real funny," says Stephen sarcastically.

"Well at least we aren't meeting with dinosaurs," adds Claire.

They all laugh. "Are you two feeling a bit better then?"

"Yeah actually," say Claire and Marion.

"At least that's some good news," comments John.

"What's your point?" asks Claire and Marion.

"Nothing."

About ten minutes later they arrive at the café. They all get out of the car and find a seat near the back of the café where they sit down and wait for Beech to arrive. Stephen is nominated to be the one to get the drinks. "I'll have a coffee," says John.

"I'll have a tea please Ste," says Marion.

"What about you Claire?"

"I think I'll have a tea too gov. After the way I felt with the smell of coffee this morning I'd rather not risk it."

"Ok," says Stephen before he goes to get the drinks.

He arrives back at the table a few minutes later with a tray full of drinks, which are passed round to who wants which one. Shortly after he sits down, Beech arrives but thankfully he doesn't spot them.

They watch his meeting with a young woman of what looks to be a Chinese Heritage. They can't hear a lot but guns and robbery are mentioned. When the meeting appears to be over and the woman leaves, Stephen, Marion, Claire and John get up from their table and attempt to corner Beech.

Beech spots them approaching and makes a run for it. The team give chase but end up giving up because he has too much of an head start on them. They slowly walk back to the café, then get into the car and head back to the hotel.


	7. Girl Talk

**Authors notes:** Not much to say really except this is the longest chapter so far and contains spoilers for the episodes - Warm Bodies prts 1 & 2, Room Service, Find the Lady and any others involving John and Claire's relationship so if you haven't seen these episodes yet you might want to, although you can probably make sense of this without watching them. Also before anyone says anything, I know there's some major differences between the eps on TV and this story so don't bother to point this out. If I copied half the details off the eps, then this chapter would be never ending. Also major references to the events in corruption, so you might want to flick through some chapters in that too. I must have gone through it over 20 times myself to write this chapter and I wrote the thing in the first place.

I know you're all getting sick of me whining now so on with the story. Responses to reviews are at the bottom.

**Beech In Australia**

**Chapter 7: Girl Talk**

They arrive at the hotel and go up to their hotel room in silence dwelling on the days events. The girls collapse on the bed releasing a huge sigh. "What a day," mumbles Claire.

"Tell me about it" says Stephen, "I think I'm gonna go down the bar for a pint, anyone else coming?"

"I will," says John, "I could use a beer myself."

"I think I'll stay here thanks," says Claire.

"Me too," says Marion.

"Ok then see you later then," states Stephen before he and John head down to the bar.

In the hotel room the girls lay on the beds having a conversation. "You know how I said I felt better earlier," stated Marion, "I don't feel as well as I was acting,"

"Me neither," said Claire, "I hope we haven't caught a bug or something."

"Me too, but I felt a bit dizzy earlier as well."

"Really? What do you think it could be?"

"I've got no idea but if I'm not feeling any better tomorrow, I'm gonna get it checked out at the doctors, I just hope it's nothing serious."

"Good idea. I think I might do the same."

"Am I imagining things or did the boys seem overly protective today?" comments Marion.

"I noticed that too but thought nothing of it," states Claire, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Well I suppose but I'm not promising an answer."

"I was thinking about last night and about what you was saying about Devon and everything an' well I was wondering … if there's still anything going on between you guys?" says Claire.

"Well just between you an me, I still fancy Stephen big time,. But it's awkward with work and everything. I mean, back then we were young and didn't give a damn about the rules and that got us into a lot of trouble; then when I was transferred to MIT, we barely saw each other and I guess we just drifted apart. It was really hard at first and I learned to concentrate on my work, that's how I got to be DCI. Anyway we kept in touch with the occasional phone call, but we hardly ever saw each other. Then when I was called in on this case, I thought it was just another case an all. I finally decided to give Stephen a call when I realised we were getting nowhere and luckily it was just the breakthrough we needed. I was really excited about one phone call revealing so much information and meeting up with someone I hadn't seen in over a year that I guess I made a bit of a fool out of myself."

"No you didn't. So what happened next?"

"Well, when I was about to head home that night, I realised that I'd left my car at Sun Hill. Stephen was gonna give me a lift home but halfway there his car broke down. We waited ages for the AA to come, but they couldn't fix it so we ended up staying the night in a hotel. The hotel only had one room so we had to share. It was so hard. I wanted so much to just reach out and touch him but I knew I couldn't. I nearly did a few times. It felt like some cruel and unusual punishment. Anyway when you called the next morning you woke us up. I was as surprised as hell at first and wondered what the hell I had done. Well when you said it was 11am, I panicked. I think we both did. We rushed to get into work stopping off at Sun Hill too get my car, hoping no one would ask questions. Then by that evening I'd calmed down a bit, planning a trap for Beech had helped and when Stephen suggested a night out I practically jumped at the chance. You practically know what happened at the pub so I wont go into that, but that night I was almost hoping I wouldn't have to go through the same torture again. It was hard enough keeping my hands to myself the first night, I didn't think I could do it again. I managed just about but the next day I was so distracted that I nearly told you lots of times. After we caught Beech, I was on a high from all the adrenaline so I asked about I night out. You all agreed it was a good idea so we all went out for the night as you know, and with you and John asking questions, I almost told you everything. When we all went to the hotel after we just sat talking for a bit; catching up on old times. The idea for skiving off came from talking about Devon; I guess I was also a bit drunk."

"What happened after you'd told us about your idea?" asks Claire.

"We went to get some sleep like we said. When we got back in the room, Stephen asked me to stay with him. I was a bit wary at first. I was almost certain I couldn't cope like that for another night but agreed anyway. I was too tired too come up with an excuse. Luckily I fell asleep straight away. I woke up a few hours later for some reason. I can't really remember why, or what woke me, but when I opened my eyes, Stephen was leaning over, staring at me. I don't really remember what happened next but we ended up kissing. I thought I was dreaming at first. Anyway moving on we ended up sleeping together and must have fell straight back to sleep afterwards. You and John woke us up a few hours later. I was too comfortable to move so I feigned sleep. Then when you and John went downstairs, I forced myself awake. We raced to get ready and to save time agreed to share the shower, although it ended up taking longer still, I'm sure I don't need to explain why."

"I get the picture," states Claire.

"That night after we all finished work, I again asked Stephen for a lift home. On the way he suggested I stay at his house overnight, 'so we can get out earlier', was his excuse but I'm sure that wasn't his only reason. I instantly agreed and so after picking up my stuff we went too his house. I sat watching TV while he packed his stuff, then he sat beside me for an hour or so before we finally decided to get some sleep. I must admit though, we didn't really do too much sleeping, if you know what I mean; that's why we were slightly late that morning. Anyway the ride to Great Yarmouth was pretty uneventful, we just talked about how to answer your questions without giving anything away, but you nearly found out anyway with that game of truth or dare. That night we just about managed to keep our hands to ourselves, but that was mainly because we didn't want you and John to find out. The next morning was pretty ordinary and you know what happened during the day so I'll skip that bit. That evening we all played truth or dare again as you know."

"Yeah I was wondering about your actions after your phone rang," interrupts Claire.

"I was just getting to that part. It was DS Whitehouse, he wanted to know why I hadn't been in touch for a while. Not really having an excuse and wanting to get back to the game, I snapped at him. He knows better than to snap back at me so he ended the call. Then as you know, Stephen questioned me on it. I was careful what I said because I knew you and John were listening and I didn't want to give anything away. DS Whitehouse has been hitting on me for months and Stephen must have guessed because he seemed a bit jealous. I tried to reassure him without saying anything you would pick up on and I was glad when you and John said you were going to bed."

"What happened after we left?"

"We discussed your whispered comment and how to get you to stop trying to figure out what was going on. We were both distracted and just wanted to curl up together, but again we couldn't really do much. Then the next morning when we found out Beech had escaped, Stephen was furious. I calmed him down a little but was furious myself. We got you guys up then all headed back to London. Since then nothing has really happened that you don't know about. We've all been too busy focusing on recapturing Beech."

"You do want something to happen though don't you?" asks Claire.

"Hell yeah. I'd jump at the chance, but there ain't much chance of that happening anytime soon. One thing I do know is if there's work to be done, Stephen focuses solely on that and nothing else matters. What about you and John? How long have you been together?" asks Marion.

"Quite a while actually, do you want the full story?"

"Yeah, spill!"

"Well, I started at Sun Hill as an undercover officer to gather evidence on Beech. We became close when we worked on these two operations that seemed to have a connection. I was investigating a vicious assault on a guy called Thomas Phelps, and John was investigating a claim of hit and run. Anyway, the guy suspected of beating up Phelps was the accountant of the hit and run victims father. We went to see if we could find out anything and that night John introduced me to the family suspected of committing the assault, the Carters. I don't know if you've heard of them but they're supposed to be big time crooks. Anyway we became pretty close. The next day I had to do a TV appeal for information. Then that night I was followed home and run off the road. I was taken to hospital and apparently, John was there to talk to Phelps who had just regained consciousness. Anyway cutting a long story short John gave me a lift home and he come on to me. I wasn't sure what to do. I mean I fancied him but I didn't want to jeopardise the undercover operation, so I pretended I was seeing a married man. It was really awkward the next day at work. Well we solved the cases and found they were defiantly linked and I was about to go home when John offered me a lift. I accepted and he drove me home, well not straight away. He took me to this special place he goes to unwind after an hectic case. I looked around and got an unexplainable urge to kiss him, so I did and basically, we ended up in bed together. We spent a few months together before we hit a problem; we'd been keeping things quiet from the rest of the station and John had planned a surprise. We spent the night in the London Dock Hotel and everything was going great until an assault was reported and a load of uniform arrived. I panicked and we both tried to get out of the hotel without being spotted, but we forgot about the CCTV and that's why we had to get the surveillance tape off Beech and solve the case ourselves. Only in doing so we had to skive out of a first aid refresher course, causing a lot of angry superiors. We solved the case but Beech had watched the other CCTV tapes and we was on one of them. I couldn't deal with Beech knowing and ended things. Several months passed and we was able to avoid working together, but when this case about a murdered lap dancer, came up we were forced to work together again. It was really hard and we had lots of tiny arguments. Well the night before Beech attacked John, we'd all had a night out and was pretty drunk, we ended up in bed together, but he was getting a bit suspicious of me snooping around. We had a bit of an argument, but I went round a few hours before he was attacked to sort things out and we ended up sleeping together again. It was shortly after that Beech called and John went to meet him. Apparently he'd said an informant was going to give them some information or something. The next thing I know, Meadows is calling to say John's been attacked."

"Wow, you guys haven't had it easy have you?" comments Marion.

"No, totally the opposite."

"What about since you found John?" asks Marion.

"Well it was a bit of a surprise at first. I had no idea he was at CIB HQ, until I walked in the day I met you, and with everything that had gone on I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't know how much he knew so the first night was pretty weird and I kept my distance."

"Yeah, but I mean …,"

"I know what you mean and no nothing happened those first few nights. It wasn't until that night we all planned to go to Great Yarmouth that I began to relax, and yes before you ask, we slept together that night and the next night before we went away, and to tell you the truth we only just arrived a few minutes before you. What I said about you guys not coming was to hide the fact, we'd only just arrived ourselves."

"What about in Great Yarmouth?"

"Do you really have to ask? The phrase 'unable to keep our hands to ourselves' springs to mind. I'm surprised you didn't know to tell you the truth."

"I was too distracted trying to keep my hands to myself," explains Marion.

"Hey, we're back," calls Stephen entering the room with John behind him.

"We've just been talking about Beech," explains Marion.

"You come up with any more ideas on how to catch him?"

"No," answers Claire, "I'm exhausted, I'm going to sleep."

"Good idea," says John climbing in beside her.

Marion gets out of bed and sits down on the sofa in front of the TV. "Couldn't pass me a packet of crisps could ya," she asks Stephen who was in the kitchen area, pouring himself a glass of juice.

"Sure; do you want any orange juice?"

"Yes please."

Stephen pours her a glass of juice and grabs a couple of packets of crisps before sitting down beside her, handing her the snacks. "So what was you really talking about?" he asks.

"I told you, Beech."

"Don't lie to me Mar."

"Ok, we discussed how we met you guys."

"Anything interesting?"

"Yeah actually, she told me how she got together with John. You wouldn't believe how eventful it was. The only problem was I had to tell her about our past," Marion explained.

"How much does she know?"

"Almost everything. I tried not to go into too much detail but …"

"… She practically knows everything?"

"Yeah."

"Lets just hope she doesn't tell anyone, I don't wanna have to deal with all that again."

"Me neither Ste. I'm gonna go to bed."

"Alright, I'll be in in a minute."

Marion goes to get ready for bed and Stephen finishes his drink then follows her. He tucks himself into bed next to her, pulling her head onto his chest and wrapping his arms around her.

"Night Mar, love you," Stephen murmurs into her hair.

"What y' say?" asks Marion waking up slightly.

"I said, love you."

"Love you too Ste; Night," says Marion before falling asleep in his arms.

Stephen lies watching her for a few minutes before he too falls asleep.

**Responses to Reviewers**

First of all thankyou to everyone who has reviewed and to anyone who has read the story but not reviewed.

Gem6 - you reviewed again. Yay. well actually Claire an the others approached Beech first so ... thanks for reviwing an i hope to see more chapters for your stories soon too.

Mad-mikaela - glad you like this. don't worry about only just finding these. i often read stories that have been up for years, so it's not a problem. hope you like the rest of the story.


	8. Beech's Plans

**Authors Notes: **Not really much to say this time. Only that this chapter is extremely short, but don't panic, i'll try to put up the next chapter as well. As soon as i've typed it up.

Gem6: thanks for reviewing again. You give me the inspiration to continue this. What do you mean about Marion having an hidden agenda? it's beginning to bug me now. The only thing she's hiding will be revealed Very soon. Well ok, not till the sequel, but you might be able to figure it out from the next chapter. I do make it kind of obvious. Here's the next chapter's, enjoy.

**Beech in ****Australia******

****

**Chapter 8: Beech's Plans**

During the night in a hotel on the other side of town, Don Beech is sitting on the bed talking into his mobile phone.

"Tomorrow afternoon, hijack a lorry carrying lots of mobile phones. There's also rumoured to be over $1 million worth of cocaine hidden in the load."

"Excellent, I'll set up an ambush, you just be at location x at 1pm," says the voice on the other end.

"Of course."

Beech ends the call and sits back on the bed thinking. _I can't believe those idiots followed me all this way. I thought I'd lost them. They're obsessed. Was that John with them? I thought he was dead. He knows everything, I've got to do something to get rid of them and soon, but what? _ He soon falls to sleep concocting ways to get rid of John and the others without drawing more attention to himself.


	9. Doctor, Doctor

**Beech in ****Australia******

****

**Chapter 9: Doctor, Doctor.**

The sun rising woke up the four sleeping officers in the hotel. First awake is Claire who stumbled to the bathroom, waking up John when she accidentally knocked over a glass.

"Morning," he greets. He then sees the way Stephen and Marion are cuddled up together. "Hey Claire have you seen this?" he asks motioning to the sleeping couple.

"Yeah, I know. Marion explained everything last night when you were down in the bar," explains Claire.

"Will you stop talking about us like we're not here?" yawns Stephen.

"Sorry."

A few minutes later Marion wakes up and sits up. Before she can say anything, she leaps off the bed and into the bathroom to be sick. "I see you're still feeling sick then," comments Stephen also moving off the bed.

"Uh, uh," is all she manages to say.

"I'll start breakfast then," says John which makes the girls feel even more nauseous.

Stephen helps John with breakfast as the others are unable to stomach the smell of food at the moment.

"I hope they're ok," mumbles John.

"Me too," adds Stephen, "this is beginning to worry me."

They all eat breakfast then get ready to go back to the police station.

"Do you mind if I stay behind today?" asks Marion just before they were about to leave, "I don't feel so good."

"Yeah, are you sure you don't want someone to stay with you?" states Stephen.

"I'll stay if you want," suggests Claire, "I don't feel brilliant myself."

"Ok then, see you in a few hours," says Stephen before he and John leave to go to the local police station.

While they are gone, Claire and Marion go to the doctors' surgery to find out what is making them so sick. They only had to wait about to 15 minutes to be seen and within an hour were back in the hotel discussing what they had found out.

"I don't think I can cope with this," starts Marion.

"I know what you mean. Of all the things I imagined that could make me this ill, I never in a million years would have come up with this," replied Claire.

"Are you gonna tell anyone?"

"No, not yet. I suppose I'll have to tell someone eventually, but I'm gonna try and keep it quiet for as long as I possibly can."

"Yeah, me too. God, how did we get into this mess?" sighed Marion.

"I'm sure you don't want me to do that."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

They were interrupted from discussing it any further when Marion's phone started ringing.

"I swear to God, if this is Whitehouse calling to check up on me again, I'll ..." started Marion before answering the phone.

"Hey Mar, it's me," comes Stephen's voice from the other end of the phone, "We've got some good news. It turns out Beech is planning to hijack a lorry full of mobile phones this afternoon with a local gang. Do you think you guys are up to helping out or should we do this without you?"

Marion relays the message to Claire before telling Stephen that they're in, and will meet at the police station in a few minutes.

**Authors Notes:** Has anybody got any idea what might be wrong with Claire and Marion? Virtual cookie to anyone who guesses correctly. Also i've been working on my website and i've changed it dramatically. Take a look and tell me what you think. The url is Or just click on the link in my bio.


	10. Robbery and Tragic Ending

**Authors Notes:** This is the last chapter of this story, but I should have the sequel up real soon, so keep looking for it. Also don't forget to visit my webpage. The address is in my bio.

**Gem6** - thanks for reveiwing again, I can always rely on you to keep me going, you will find out what Beech is planning and what's wrong with the girls in the sequel, which i'm hoping to get out sometime in the next 2 weeks, if dad hasn't deleted the file by accident again. Your probably right about what's wrong with the girls, not like I don't make it blatently obvious, but keep reading, i'm thing of adding in even more surprises Cough puppies Cough, cough but that's quite a way off yet. Here's the next chapter enjoy.

**Wombat** - it's always nice to here from someone new, glad your enjoying this. This is the last chapter of this story but i've already started on a sequel which I hope to start posting by the end of the month. Very interesting guess of whats wrong with the girls, you'll find out how close you was in the sequel lol. i'd tell you now but that would spoil the story. hears the next chapter, enjoy.

**Beech in ****Australia******

**Chapter 10: Robbery and Tragic Endings.**

20 minutes later they are all gathered at the police station finalising the plans for the obbo. They all set off to the place the robbery is supposed to take place and set up an ambush. They patiently wait for the lorry to come into view, before all the action begins.

Beech and the other robbers speed into the way of the lorry, causing it to skid to a halt. They then force the driver out of the truck at gunpoint, whilst some of the others unload the cargo from the lorry. At this point the police move in to catch them. Spotting them, Beech and the others jump into the getaway cars and speed away from the crime scene. The police officers give chase.

The chase continues for over 100 miles, before all of the gang members apart from Beech are caught. Beech continues to speed away from them, but looses control and crashes into the river.

A crane is used to pull the car from the river and an ambulance is on standby at the side of the road.

When the car is removed from the river and there is no sign of Beech, they all seem to realise he must be dead. With nothing else they can do, the four officers head back to the hotel to pack for their return to London.

In the hotel they talk about their disappointment about the result of the operation and what they are going to do when they get back to London.

"I wish Beech could serve his punishment in a jail cell," comments John.

"Me too, but I guess that will never happen now," says Claire.

"What's gonna happen when we get back?" asks Marion.

"We go back to our lives the best we can. Easier said than done I know, but what else can we do?" states Stephen, "speaking of which, Claire how do you feel about staying at Sun Hill for a bit longer? I received some information the day before we came hear, that there's a strong chance of something else going down."

"Sure gov, it might be a bit difficult at first, I mean the others are gonna have lots of questions about where I've been the last few weeks, but I think I can handle it."

"Good. I'd put somebody else in but I don't think it would work, what with all this about Beech and everything they're bound to be a bit suspicious. You've got the best chance of getting the information we need."

"Yes gov, I'll start working on a cover story right away."

"I think I've already got one actually," butts in John, "You can say you was looking after me and helping me recover."

"That could work," says Stephen.

They all collect their stuff and make their way to the airport. Less than 2 hours later they are seen boarding a plane back to London to continue with their lives.

The End.

This is the last chapter, but the sequel should be out in a couple of weeks, under the name Beech is Back, so look out for it and don't forget to review and tell me what you think of this.


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